BURN by Peter Heller

Jess and Storey, both in their thirties and best friends since childhood, are hunting moose in Maine when they start encountering town after town that has been burned to a crisp.  Their own lives are obviously in danger as they gather snippets of information, from a Canadian radio station no less, about what is going on.  Soon their duo becomes a threesome, and Jess finds that his primary reason to survive is to protect Storey and Collie and get them all to a safe haven.  Fortunately, Jess and Storey are rational, resourceful, and compassionate, but when both factions in a civil war are unwilling to negotiate with strangers, self-preservation becomes their number one objective.  Interleaved within this tale is Jess’s backstory, particularly his relationship with Storey’s family, including an incident that he has never had the courage to share with Storey.  Given that they may not make it home from this trip, Jess is not sure that he wants to carry this burden to his grave, but Storey, too, has secrets of his own.  Their life-and-death journey, however, is the main reason to turn the pages.  No one writes a better adventure thriller than Peter Heller, and this novel is no exception.